Is gambling permissible in Islam?

Gambling (maysir/qimar) is unequivocally forbidden in Islam. The Quran groups it together with intoxicants, idol worship, and divining arrows, calling them an abomination of Satan's handiwork and commanding believers to avoid them entirely so that they may succeed (5:90). The next verse explains the wisdom: gambling breeds enmity and hatred between people and distracts from remembrance of God and prayer (5:91). Scholars define gambling broadly as any transaction where a person risks money on an uncertain outcome purely for the chance of gain, without productive effort or shared risk in a real venture — this covers casino games, sports betting, lottery tickets, and games of chance played for money. The prohibition applies whether the stakes are large or small, and even casual betting among friends is not exempt. What separates gambling from legitimate risk-taking, such as business investment, is that gambling creates a zero-sum transfer where one party's gain is entirely the other's loss, with nothing of real value exchanged. Games of skill played purely for entertainment, with no money changing hands, are not considered gambling.

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